After being filled with the energy of the climate movement in the summer of 2019, members of UK film and television industry realised a unique opportunity to engage their industry in achieving “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes”. They founded #FilmStrikeforClimate.
FSFC is latching onto one key attribute of our industry: its fundamental reliance on peer support and trust, making an industry-wide mobilisation based on shared values likely to arise.
In their dozens, others who recognised our industry’s potential visited over one hundred different film and television offices and studios across the UK in Bristol, Leeds, Cardiff and London. All were dressed as Star Wars characters handing out Film Strike’s call to action leaflets and posters, asking for fellow industry members to march in solidarity with the Youth Strike for Climate movement on their first Global Climate Strike on September 20th, 2019.
Outside the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, as part of our additional actions, a Star Wars-themed orchestra performed to entertain and inspire the industry to unite for climate & ecological action.
Prominent wildlife filmmakers in Bristol responded by asking Film Strike to assist them in planning an unprecedented industry-specific climate march on September 20th.
Albert wrote in response to the strike actions: “We can all recognise that while the environment has been on the film industry’s agenda for a number of years, we have yet to mount our greatest response”.
The wildlife film industry of Bristol united, marched and mourned as they held eulogies for the destruction of biodiversity and species extinctions they had witnessed first hand over their careers.
“BECTU, a sector of Prospect will be using the September climate week of action to highlight our support for tougher action on carbon emissions and to create a low-carbon society. This includes encouraging members to stage events on 20 September and during the week of action to show our support, regardless of the fact that we cannot endorse strike action."
Film Strike for Climate was invited to speak on a Raindance Film Festival panel on making our industry more sustainable.
The event was entitled “How To Ask For (Much) More”, supporting green filmmaking.
We organised a film festival during Extinction Rebellion’s October Rebellion, as part of our plan to create more spaces for the Film and Television industry to engage with the climate movement.
After being inspired by the Star Wars narrative to appeal to the Film and Television industry to join forces for the greater good, we realised that the Star Wars Episode 9 premiere in London was clearly the event to get our message out to the industry.
With Extinction Rebellion’s support, we dressed up as Star Wars Rebel Alliance characters and jumped on the red (blue) carpet, holding up signs reading: ‘Imagine Green New Worlds’, ‘Culture Change Not Climate Change’ and ‘Help Us Hollywood You’re Our Only Hope’.
Film Strike was invited to speak on national New Zealand radio RNZ about our first short film, directed by Emily Corcoran, and the campaign.
We supported XR youth members in LA who urged Hollywood to ‘wake up’.
LA’s Young Entertainment Activists (YEA!) group used this event to highlight the need for industry involvement at their Hollywood Climate Summit.
Greta Thunberg announced she was visiting Bristol with one week’s notice.
The Bristol Youth Strike for Climate group immediately got in touch with us to ask if we could spread the word ‘Film Strike style’. Which we did.
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